Cathedrals -- England; England -- Description and travel
FROM THE PADDOCK]
The sculptor's art is represented by many tombs of certain merit. There
is the tomb erected by Abbot Parker to the memory of Osric, King of
Northumberland, who was one of the founders of the monastery, and who
died about the eighth century. In the north aisle leading to the Lady
Chapel--which by the way, with its square ending appears like an
after-thought, extended eastwards, as it were, from the apsidal
termination of the choir--is a monument covering the remains of Robert
Duke of Normandy, the eldest son of the Conqueror. He was a benefactor
to the old abbey. His effigy in coloured bog oak is disposed in a
recumbent attitude on an altar-tomb. There are many others, amongst
which that of Dr. Jenner, famous for the introduction of vaccination
into general practice, commands great attention. Robert Raikes is also
represented. He and the Rev. Thomas Stock, a rector of St. John the
Baptist in this city, share the honour of having established the first
Sunday school in England, which was held in Gloucester. Some
authorities, however, contend that the reverend gentleman was the
originator of the Sunday school, though they do not deny that Raikes,
through his unwearied exertions, promoted the increase of these
institutions throughout the kingdom.
But of all the monuments, that erected by the monks of Gloucester to the
memory of Edward of Carnarvon deserves the most attention, not only for
its beauty, but because it served as the type for the Gothic sculptors
to copy during two centuries. The recumbent effigy is hedged in by a
series of elaborately decorated shafts, forming a kind of open-work
grille, with pinnacles and niches. Overhead it is covered in with richly
ornamented Gothic work.
This shrine, constructed to receive the body of the murdered Edward II.,
conveyed thither from Berkeley Castle by Abbot Thokey, throughout the
greater part of Edward III.'s reign continued to attract vast numbers of
pilgrims. Their offerings soon brought in a great revenue, which was
spent not on rebuilding the church, but in restoring the surface, in
putting new windows in the old walls, and, generally, in adapting the
twelfth-century building to the Perpendicular style of the fourteenth
century. In this way the original Norman work forms the skeleton to the
Perpendicular casing.
In 1541 the Cathedral was separated from the diocese of Worcester by
Henry VIII. and made a distinct bishopric.
Besides this magnificent pile, Gloucester possesses four other churches,
which deserve some slight notice. There is the Church of St. Mary de
Lode, said to contain the remains of Lucius, the first British king. It
has an interesting old chancel, and a monument to Bishop Hooper.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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